EXPERT WITNESS AND REPORTING:

QUANTUM FOR CLAIMS – DISRUPTION COST DUE TO CHANGE IN LEGISLATION (COVID 19)

Problem received:
A Contractor in Saudi Arabia on the Riyad Metro project believed that it occurred additional cost due to restrictions on its planned workflow on site. This change in its method and planned execution of the work due to rules from the government and the Client had to be monetized. The Contractor provided the Client with its additional labour and plant cost but this was denied and labelled excessive.

The Process and Solution:
Frans Taljaard from TDS inspected the contemporaneous records closely to identify all the additional rules and regulations imposed on the Contractor. The difficulty with Disruption Claims is to prove and display the Disruption Cost and for the Engineer to assess it correctly.
Well known industry-standard methods used are the Measured Mile calculation, Earned Value Analysis and Estimated Cost vs Incurred Labour cost methods. With the lack of detailed tracking of the labour and a breakdown of section per section over their project site, a combined method was used.
The typical workday of certain labour was identified before the disrupted events. And this was compared to a typical day during the disruption. The additional time for waiting in line, isolation from other labour and the slowdown of using protective gear, could be seen and quantified.
The output indicator for Revenue was established. This showed the under-recovery in revenue generated per labour.

The Benefit:
The Engineer could follow a visual representation of the disruption on site of the labour force. The Engineer in addition adjust the Payment certificates for the disrupted months by 28% for the under-recovery in revenue.